Silence South Korea, Women's Team Wins First Title In History Of Badminton Asia Teams

Women's doubles badminton players Febriana Dwi Puji Kusuma/Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi in the match against South Korea in the final of the 2022 Asian Team Badminton Championships, at the Setia City Convention Center, Selangor, Malaysia, on Sunday 20 February 2022 (PR PBSI)

JAKARTA — The Indonesian women's team managed to win the title at the 2022 Asian Team Badminton Championships. That was after Gregoria Mariska Tunjung and her friends beat South Korea in the final.

Indonesia locked the title after winning 3-1 in the match at the Setia City Convention Center, Selangor, Malaysia, on Sunday 20 February. This is the women's team's first title in the history of the championship.

Gregoria as team captain contributed the first point for Indonesia. The 22-year-old player won in straight sets 21-9, 21-10 when he met Sim Yu Jin in a match that took 26 minutes.

"Today I played better than when I met Korea in the last group stage. Last time it was much more tense than now. Because I wasn't too tense, I was able to relax more and stay with the target and goal to win. So I can play freely," said Gregory.

Indonesia lost points in the second match. Women's doubles pair Febriana Dwi Puji Kusuma/Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi surrendered in three sets 15-21 21-14 14-21 to Ha Na Baek/Seung Yeon Seong.

This is the second loss for Febri/Amalia from the same pair in this competition. Previously, the Indonesian representative was also unable to stem the appearance of Ha Na Baek / Seung Yeon Seong when they met in the group stage.

"Sorry we haven't been able to contribute points. It feels sad that we haven't been able to win. Tiwi and I have actually tried to do our best, but the opponent was better," said Febriana and Amalia after the match.

Indonesia's victory was then determined in the third match through Nita Violina Marwah/Lanny Tria Mayasari. The pair won in straight sets 23-21, 21-11 against Min Ji Kim/Min Jeong Park.

Indonesia still has hope of adding the title of this event in the men's sector. The men's team which is the defending champion will compete against Malaysia after this.

In the previous edition, the men's team emerged as the champion after defeating Malaysia at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila. Indonesia is expected to be able to defend the title even though the squad is filled with the majority of young players.